By Ahmed al-Masri
RIYADH (AA) – Saudi Arabian military forces on Thursday repulsed an attack carried out by Yemen’s Shia Houthi militia group and its allies near the kingdom’s borders, Saudi news channel Al Arabiya has reported.
According to the broadcaster, the confrontations lasted three hours as Houthi militiamen tried to infiltrate Saudi territory before being pushed back by Saudi artillery and helicopter gunships.
Members of a Saudi-led Arab coalition also took part in the fighting by bombing Houthi positions, Al Arabiya reported.
Scores of Houthi militiamen and fighters loyal to former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh were killed in the melee and several of their missile platforms destroyed, the news channel quoted unnamed security sources as saying.
Houthi spokesmen have yet to comment on the reports.
Houthi militiamen staged a similar attack near Saudi Arabia’s border with Yemen roughly one month ago.
Yemen has remained wracked by chaos since late 2014, when the Houthis and pro-Saleh forces overran capital Sanaa — of which they still remain in control — and other parts of the country.
The conflict escalated in March of last year when Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies launched a major air campaign aimed at reversing Houthi military gains and shoring up Yemen’s Saudi-backed government.
Since the conflict first began, nearly 7,000 people are believed to have been killed — more than half of them civilians — while another three million are thought to have been displaced.
